Why climate crisis means some English roses will bloom no longer

Award-winning rose varieties are being retired due to changing garden conditions and evolving pests

Think of the quintessential English garden and a rose will invariably spring to mind. Their sweet scent and plush petals have long been prized by gardeners, but now some of the most beloved varieties are being retired by growers due to climate breakdown and pests.

Though their use in gardens is thought to have originated in China and Iraq, for hundreds of years they have been a prize bloom across England. And the undisputed king of rose-growing in the past six decades has been David Austin, who died in 2018 but whose roses fill gardens all over the country with their colour and intoxicating smell. His company, which is still going, has said it is to retire some of its most well-loved species because they are no longer practicable to grow.